Chapter 54
Luke headed home to pack an overnight bag for both him and Shelby, making sure to grab all three of Shelby's stuffed animals and the Harry Potter book from off the nightstand. He had ran into Caesar on the way up, who asked why he was in a hurry. Luke told him everything that happened and told him, he would be in charge for the rest of the day and told him not to worry about coming in, in the morning. Luke would open later when he got home.
With an overnight bag packed, making sure he had everything, Luke returned to the hospital. Shelby was happy to have all three of her stuffed animals, hugging them all in one arm.
To pass the time, Jess read more of Harry Potter to her while Luke took care of some final paperwork he had to fill out.
Once it grew closer to the time of surgery, a nurse came in to prep Shelby, along with another doctor called the anesthesiologist. The anesthesiologist had asked what scent she wanted, to help her relax. The choices to choose from was strawberry, orange, cherry, blueberry, and bubblegum. Shelby picked orange since oranges were her favorite fruit.
The nurse also rubbed some ointment on her hand to numb it where the IV would go for the anesthesia. Even after how much Luke and Jess helped keep her calm, Shelby was still afraid and nervous to have the surgery. When it was time for the nurse to take her, Shelby didn't want to go.
Luke held a hand on the metal railing of the hospital stretcher while holding the other to her forehead, rubbing his thumb across it, affectionately. He was trying with all his might to remain calm for his little buddy. "I promise it's only for a little while, okay, kiddo? Jess and I will see you when you wake up. It'll be like you never even left," he assured her and gave Shelby a kind smile.
Shelby gripped her koala, Pikachu, and Maggie in her arm, in a tight grip. She gave him a pleading look not to leave her, but he had to. It took all he had not to cave.
Jess spoke up, reaching over to playfully punch her in the arm. "You'll be just fine, Scout. I'll kick anyone's asses if I have to, to make sure of it," he joked with a snicker.
She nodded up at her cousin.
"I'm sure you're in good hands, though." Jess punched her one more time.
When the nurse told them, they had to go, Luke leaned in closer and kissed Shelby's forehead. "I love you so much, kiddo. See ya in a few." Shelby waved back at them both before the nurse began to push her from the room. The guys followed them out into the hall, walking behind Shelby and the nurse. Every few seconds, Shelby kept looking behind at them. Luke and Jess followed until they couldn't any more and returned to their room, to wait. And wait. And wait. And wait.
Jess eventually decided to check out the burger joint, asking if Luke wanted anything. Luke declined politely which Jess shrugged off and left.
Twenty minutes went by, with Luke pacing around the room, unable to remain still. His heart beat fast and hard against his chest. He found himself taking several breaths of air as Luke wondered how long it took to insert some pins into a child's elbow, hoping Shelby would pull through this. The kid was tough, if she could make it through everything else life has thrown at her, she could beat this. Plus, Shelby always managed to surprise him each time. It still didn't keep him from worrying about her, though.
Of course, Rachel was probably off, enjoying herself, on some kind of adventure. Luke couldn't help feel bitter just thinking about it. The thought never occurred she could be thinking or worrying about their daughter, especially after the argument that broke out between them, over Jess being there. Her heart was in the right place, thinking about Shelby's wellbeing, and Luke knew Rachel really did love her. He just couldn't shake his mind of all the incidents that had happened the past year since letting Rachel back in Shelby's life. Was it really worth it? Letting her back in Shelby's life? Or keeping her away now that he allowed it in the first place? Sure, she seems happy and carefree again, but that didn't mean Shelby wasn't putting on a front for him and everyone else. She was his kid after all.
After a while, with all the battling thoughts in his head, Luke decided to go search for the cafeteria or a vending machine. He ended up finding a vending machine that sold coffee and tea. As he was getting a cup of warm tea, he heard someone call his name. Luke looked up from carefully picking up the hot beverage to see Lorelai coming over.
"Hey," he greeted, surprised to see her, there. "What are you doing here?"
Lorelai stopped a few steps away. "I stopped by the diner to see how Shelby was doing. Caesar told me you were still here. He said Shelby had to have surgery."
Luke let out a deep sigh. "Yeah. Her elbow fractured in a few pieces. She has to have some pins put in so it'll heal well," he explained.
She gave him a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry to hear that."
He thanked her and added, "It's also her first surgery."
"Wow," Lorelai replied. "This has to be really scary for her."
"Shell was terrified, especially when they were wheeling her off. She kept checking to see if we were still following. It took all I had to keep up a brave front for her."
"I know what you mean. I remember when Rory had food poisoning. They had to hook her up to an IV. She looked so little and scared, it made me feel they would have to hook me to an IV."
"I feel ya on that. So glad they numbed her hand for the IV. Shelby hates needles." Luke sighed in relief.
"Awww," she moaned, in sympathy. "Poor kid.
Luke blew on his tea to cool it enough to take a sip.
"How you doing?" Lorelai asked of him.
"Haven't been able to sit still. The idea of having someone cut open my little girl to insert some pins," he sighed some more, "It's killing me. Jess has been a huge help through all this, reading to her to help keep her calm, at least for a moment."
Lorelai looked at him with a surprised look on her face. "Really?"
"Yeah. Huge help, in fact. While I was doing the paperwork, he was reading Harry Potter to her."
"That's great," she told him, seeming like she was forcing a smile.
Dr. Lancaster came over at that point. "Mr. and Mrs. Danes," he said, grabbing their attention. Both of them stumbled on their words upon being mistaken for a couple until Luke was able to say she was just a friend which Lorelai quickly backed up. Dr. Lancaster apologized for the mistake.
"How is she?" Luke asked, straightening up and faced his daughter's doctor, completely.
"She's doing just fine. The surgery went well and she's in recovery right now. You'll be able to see her in half an hour," he said. "Now, we inserted three pins into the joint to hold everything in place while the elbow heals. For the first week of recovery, we've placed her arm in a splint. In a week from now, I'd like if you brought Shelby back so we can get a cast on it for the remainder of the healing process."
"How long will it take to heal, altogether?"
"About four to six weeks."
Luke nodded. That meant Shelby was going to be done with basketball for the rest of the season. Shelby wasn't going to like that one bit.
Once Dr. Lancaster was finished updating Luke on how the surgery went, he left them alone.
"Well, I should probably go," Lorelai said, fixing to leave.
"You don't want to see Shelby when she wakes up?" he asked, pointing behind him. She tried to assure him it was okay, she'll see Shelby eventually, but Luke added, "I'm sure Shelby would love to see you when she wakes up." With more reassurance, he was able to convince Lorelai to stay.
When the recovery portion was over, Shelby was wheeled back to her room where she finally woke up. Dr. Lancaster had warned them, she would be a little groggy and out of it. Boy, could he be anymore right.
Her arm was all plastered in a splint-like holding, to keep her arm in place while it healed. On the back of her other hand was a small cotton ball taped to it where the IV was inserted. On the same hand, her pointer finger had a pulse device taped on. When her eyelids barely opened and as she peered around the room, it was Jess who pointed out that she looked stoned. Luke threw him an annoyed glare, who shrugged innocently. Or tried to, at least.
Luke leaned over her, brushing a hand along her forehead. Her hat was removed from her head and set with her stuffed animals beside her. "Hey, Shell. How do ya feel?"
Shelby peered up at him through half open eyes. With her puzzled look, she asked, "who are you?"
"It's me, kiddo. Your dad," he told her. Luke began brushing the front of her hair back.
"Oh," she replied, looking forward at nothing for a moment before returning her gaze towards him. "Where's Mom?"
Upon hearing his buddy ask for Rachel, tore at his heart. He silently took a deep breath and told her, softly, "she's still on her trip, kiddo," as he continued to brush away her hair.
"No' ta real one. Ta crazy one."
Luke was caught off guard. "Uh...huh?" Luke quickly shared a look with Lorelai before turning back to Shelby, who looked just as confused. "The crazy one? You mean Lorelai?"
With her most serious expression, she asked, "Who's Lor-lai?"
Lorelai spoke up that time, leaning in a little closer. "I am, sweetheart. Your pal." She smiled for Shelby, but Luke could tell Lorelai wasn't sure how to respond.
Shelby stared directly at her. Finally, she said, "You have a big head." The guys couldn't help snicker to themselves but Lorelai still notice.
"Well, there's something I never thought I'd hear again." She stood up straight, placing both hands on her hips.
Shelby was neutral to it. Her head rolled towards Jess, who was standing on the other side.
Jess smiled. "Hey, Scout. How you feelin'?"
She stared back at him, still zoned out. "Did you kick tear asses ye'?" she asked, innocently.
He chuckled. "Do I need to?"
Shelby nodded. Weakly lifting her good hand, she pointed at her dad. "Kick his."
Jess glanced over at Luke, still chuckling. "Why?"
"Why, wha'?"
"Why do I need to kick your dad's ass?"
"I don' know."
There was a knock on the door before it opened. The same nurse from before walked in bringing a pitcher of water, setting it on the bedside table.
"How are we doing?" she asked Shelby.
Being out of it still, Shelby automatically answered, with full boldness. She had turned her head to look over at the nurse. "Who are you?"
"I'm Nurse Ashley," she replied, remaining sweet and patient. "Remember? I helped with your surgery?"
"Oh yeah." Just like that, Shelby turned back to Jess. "Can you kick her ass?"
Jess let out a snicker which Luke finally said, "Alright, Shell. Stop telling Jess to kick everyone's butt, and stop saying ass, too." But Jess wasn't the only one amused by it. It got a smile from the nurse, as well, probably used to interacting with kids under the influence of anesthesia.
"No worry. Right before she went under, when the anesthesia started kicking in, she told everyone in the operating room, her big bro was gonna kick all of our butts." She chuckled, not at all taking it seriously.
Luke stole a glance over at the young man, glaring over at him, who was just smirking.
"What?" he shrugged, innocently.
The biggest surprise was when Luke realized not even Lorelai could keep a straight face. Well, at least it's better than the reaction Rachel would give if she were there. She'd probably hate it more than he did. Luke had to admit, it was a little funny. However, the next time Nurse Ashley returned, this time with a simple meal of broth, jello, and apple juice, Shelby tried hooking her up with her dad. Nurse Ashley assured her, she was already married.
"Bu' my dad is really nice. You'd like him," she pointed out.
Nurse Ashley smiled. "I'm sure he is very nice."
While Luke helped Shelby eat what she could, Dr. Lancaster came by to check on her, making sure everything was okay, whom Shelby also wanted Jess to kick his ass, as well. Lorelai eventually left, leaving the three alone. Shelby had fallen back to sleep, allowing the guys to get some sleep, too. They took each armchair on either side of the bed. By late morning, the next day, Shelby was able to be discharged and able to go home. On the way home, she asked about whether or not she dreamed about some of the things she said.
"Oh, trust me," Jess was the one to respond, "they were no dreams. It was quite entertaining. You even tried getting the nurse to date your dad."
"I did?" she asked in surprise.
"Yep."
Shelby turned to Luke, for confirmation.
"You were so out of it, I told your dad to ask for a doggy bag of whatever they gave you," Jess added, receiving another glare from Luke.
Luke was just glad it was all over, but couldn't help shake Shelby's comment and the way she asked for Lorelai. Dr. Lancaster had told them not to take anything said seriously while she was sedated. If Shelby hadn't of mentioned before how she wished Lorelai was her mom, Luke may have not given it a second thought. Could that have been why she hadn't asked about Rachel returning, and why Shelby had been wanting to spend more time with her and Rory? It was something that lingered around in his mind for a while.
On Monday, Luke took her to school to explain to Mr. Harris about Shelby's broken arm, letting him know the splint was temporary just for a week. He had to smile when Luke found out how many of her classmates wanted to sign it, but had to wait. The following Saturday, they went back to the hospital to see Dr. Lancaster again.
Dr. Lancaster took some more x-rays just to be sure Shelby's elbow was healing, nicely. Once everything looked good, he asked what color cast she wanted. Shelby wanted it to look like her room did at Rachel's place, but they couldn't make an army green camouflage. Dr. Lancaster was able to give her a plain green cast that covered basically her whole arm that went up passed her elbow.
Luke held Shelby on his leg while the doctor formed the cast to fit her arm snugly, but not too tight that it cut off her circuitation.
"Just make sure you don't stick anything down inside," Dr. Lancaster warned her as he was sliding her arm into the sling. Luke backed him up on that part, reminding Shelby on what he had told Rory about his bad experience. "Do you have a blow dryer at home?"
"Um, no?" Luke wasn't sure what a blow dryer had to do with anything. "Why?"
"On the cool setting, the blow dryer can actually relieve itching."
His eyebrows rose. "Really?"
"Mm hm," he nodded. "Well, you're all set. If there are any problems or if the cast cracks, come back and see me, immediately, and we'll get it fixed for ya."
Luke thanked Dr. Lancaster, having Shelby do the same, giving him a thumb's up.
Ethan and Alan stopped by the diner, later that day with their parents, to see Shelby and were the first ones to sign her cast, both writing small messages stating how awesome she was. Lorelai and Rory also stopped by to see how Shelby was doing and to see the new cast, signing it, too. Come Monday, Shelby's cast was covered with several autographs. Luke could see how much it made Shelby feel to know how many wanted to sign it. She hated she couldn't play basketball anymore, at least for the rest of the season. Mr. Harris let her participate during practices as long as she was careful, letting her try shooting the ball with one hand. It usually missed but assured her the fun was in the trying part.
During the games, Shelby had to sit on the sidelines, cheering the rest of her team on. She was given the title of assistant coach just so Shelby could feel part of the team. So all wasn't lost. After each game, Shelby helped pass out the snack to everyone. On her own, she continued to practice, dribbling the ball with only one hand. Most of the time, though, Shelby rested her injured arm. Having a broken elbow didn't stop her from playing on her Nintendo 64, still able to move her thumb.
After they signed her cast, Lorelai ended up turning the conversation over to weird premonitions involving her death, one that was similar to Daffy Duck getting his beak blown to the back of his head. Luke chuckled when he overhead Shelby telling her how he told her it wasn't good to watch TV right before going to sleep because it could affect the REM sleep.
"Okay, that's it." Lorelai called over to Luke, "Luke, I'm taking custody away from you. Shelby's ours now."
He came over, holding someone's order. "You can try but Shelby won't let you. Right, Shell?"
Lorelai scoffed. "Not with my persuasion skills. Right, Shelby?"
Shelby shook her head at Lorelai. "I'm 'taying wi' my dad. He's my bes' friend," she stated.
Smiling, Luke bent over to kiss the side of her head before taking the plate in his hand over to its owner. "Told ya," he smirked over at Lorelai, who threw him a mock glare.
"Oh, trust me. We'll get her over to the dark side," she called after him.
When he walked back from dropping of the order, both Shelby and Lorelai were in a raspberry match, both sticking their tongues out at each other. Shelby eventually stood up to lean on the table as Lorelai leaned in closer. Luke caught Rory's eye, both exchanging slight smirks. Lane came in, interrupting the scene. Luke left the girls alone to refill everyone's drinks.
Lane didn't stay long, having to get to band practice. Before she left, though, Luke overheard Shelby ask if she could be in her band but when the kid realized there were guys she never met before, Shelby changed her mind.
"Maybe when you're older and we've become famous, you can open for us at one of our shows," Lane suggested.
"Okay," she replied.
Shortly after Lane left, Lorelai and Rory did too, right as Shane dashed in, almost knocking them over, rushing over to where Jess was sitting at the counter, reading when he was supposed to be helping out with the customers.
While the couple was locked in kiss mode, Luke noticed Shelby had wandered over and was trying to sidle herself in between their legs, pushing on Jess' legs with her good hand. Luke helped by walking in between them when he was taking another order to a customer. Shelby hadn't expected Jess to step backwards and almost stumbled forward, landing against him.
"What are you doing, Scout?"
Shelby clung to his leg, trying to keep her cousin in place where he couldn't move.
"Kid's a freak," Shane stated in a disgusted tone and asked if Jess was ready to go yet.
Jess called over to let Luke know he was leaving and tried to unhook Shelby's arm from his legs.
Luke helped out, calling over to Shelby. "I could use an extra hand, Shell." But Shelby refused to let go of her cousin. Jess hunched over to whisper something before she finally let go, letting him leave. She didn't move though, staring at the floor.
Jess looked back and made his way back over to playfully punch her arm. Luke heard him mutter something about making it up to Shelby before leaving again. When he was gone, Luke made his way over to lift Shelby into his arms, being careful of her arm. Kissing the side of her forehead, Luke proceeded to make her feel better, asking for her help.
Monday morning, Lorelai and Rory stopped by for breakfast which Lorelai shared she was asked to speak at the high school, and told Luke, they wanted him to speak, as well. There was hardly any thought when he immediately said no. Of course, when did Lorelai ever take no for an answer, especially when she wanted him to do something. She started begging for him to say yes and when that didn't work, started talking baby talk to him, earning some unwanted attention from the rest of his customers. Both Rory and Shelby looked around feeling embarrassed.
"Dad, please say yes so she'll 'top," Shelby told him. He too felt embarrassed by the woman, not liking the attention anymore than the girls did and finally agreed just to shut her up. It wasn't actually a binding agreement and Luke planned to back out at the last minute. However, it didn't go exactly as he had planned when he called the inn to let her know. Luke had hated the three years he spent at Star Hollows High and was glad when he left. No way would he want to go back there to give a speech, even if it was to talk about his business success. Not like those kids would even listen to him, anyway.
But Lorelai persuaded him not to back out, this time, doing a Louis Armstrong impersonation. Of course, in the end, she won and Luke still had to do it, though he hoped by some miracle something would happen that would cause the stupid speech to be canceled, possibility a meteor crashing into the school or something. Hopefully when no one was in it or a part of the school that was unoccupied. Luke wasn't heartless after all. He even asked Shelby to put in a good word for him to the Big Guy upstairs. Shelby just asked why he couldn't ask himself which Luke didn't have an answer for.
Putting a loving hand on his shoulder, Shelby assured him, "i's okay, Dad. I' won' be so bad." Luke had to smile at his little buddy's adorableness. But he wasn't dressing up for it, choosing to wear his most successful flannel shirt he scored many deals in. That was good enough in his book. Unfortunately, Lorelai didn't see it the same way as he did and dragged him upstairs to change where Shelby was playing a basketball game, winning. She was also wearing a pair of Jess' big headphones, listening to her music.
When Luke got close enough he could hear Reba singing. Headphones were made so only the listener could hear the music, not the whole world. If everybody can hear it, what was the point of headphones?
Grabbing the headphones from off her head, Luke asked, "Shelby, are you trying to kill your hearing?" making sure to block her view of the TV.
Shelby jumped at her dad suddenly being there. She didn't like he was blocking her view, though. "Dad! I can' see!" she protested.
"Well then, pause it and tell me why you were trying to bust your eardrums," he insisted. Jess had wandered over to toss himself into the chair, beside the kid, who only took up half the space.
"Jess told me to," she answered, honestly.
Luke turned his head immediately over to his nephew. "Why did you tell your cousin it was alright to blast her music with headphones?" he asked of him.
Jess shrugged, "Didn't want to listen to country." The guy really wasn't a fan of Shelby's music. He had even tried to introduce her to his. Some songs he was successful, that she liked, but mostly Shelby preferred her own. "By the way, what was that you were saying about a toy?"
It was Lorelai who answered that time. "Your uncle Luke is getting one if he's a good boy."
Shelby perked up at that. "Dad is ge'ting a toy?" she asked, looking like a kitten who just smelled food.
"Can we make this any more demeaning?" Luke questioned before suggesting Jess go downstairs and help out Caesar, who pointed out his education was more important while holding a textbook in his lap.
After picking on him for the Jimmy Buffet shirt Luke had, hung up in his closet, Lorelai found him the nicest, professional shirt to wear. He took it inside the bathroom to change which she pointed out about changing out there since he was just changing his shirt, reminding him that she's seen Luke without a shirt on at the lake.
"Lately? Because he's really let himself go," Jess pointed out.
Shelby caught part of it. "Le' who go?" She suddenly panicked. "Is Dad ge'ting rid of Ce-zer?" meaning to say, Caesar.
"I said letting himself go, meaning your dad's gained a few pounds around the middle," he explained to her.
Shelby still hadn't gotten it. "Ta mid-doe of wha'?"
Luke heard Jess groan out loud in frustration, most likely towards the ceiling. "I mean, his stomach has gotten fat."
"Oooh," she finally replied and agreed. "Yeah, he has."
Luke let out a sigh, listening to the conversation going on out there while he was slipping his arms through the sleeves of his blue collared shirt he usually wore whenever he went to the bank. Once he had it buttoned up, he left the bathroom where things were quiet. Lorelai tried pushing a tie too, but Luke wasn't pushing anything else. The shirt was fine enough, pointing out the toy had better not be something he had to put together.
Once they were out in the hallway, alone and out of earshot of the cousins, Lorelai pointed out, quickly, "Oh, by the way, Jess had a girl in the closet," before hurrying downstairs, stating they were late. Luke barely had time to process the information as he hurried after the woman.
Being back in his old high school brought back reminders why he hated being there. It still smelled the same, surprisingly. The final bell that rang was the only thing he liked, and hoped to get through the whole ordeal as fast as possible. He questioned Lorelai's notecards she looked over as they waited to go in.
While they waited, though, Lorelai had wandered over to the trophy case, possibly seeing Shelby's future since she was already a clone of her dad. Or at least the male equivalent. Luke groaned when he realized they still had his pictures up of when he was on the Track team, demanding if they should have his permission to display something like that.
Lorelai laughed upon finding out his nickname but said, "Poor Shelby's gonna be walking these halls one day with the legacy of her dad on display."
"She'll be proud," he told her, in an annoyed tone, hoping things couldn't get any worse. Luke could see why Jess didn't want to hang around here, at least.
Eventually, they were able to go into the classroom where the two were speaking. Lorelai went first which Luke was glad of, hoping she'd yak so much they won't even get to him. Things did get out of hand when the students started bombarding Lorelai with questions about getting pregnant at sixteen. He couldn't help snicker watching her trying to remain on track. In the end, Luke did end up having to take over, thankful he conceived Shelby in his late twenties.
While Luke gave his speech, winging it as he went along, explaining how he turned a hardware store into a diner and the business aspects that came along with starting his own business, Lorelai waited for him out in the hallway. The whole time he was nervous. His heart beat faster and faster throughout the whole process he was up there and his palms grew even more sweater by the second. Luke swore he was going to sweat through his shirt, wishing Lorelai hadn't of picked a light colored shirt.
On the walk back to the diner, though, he felt a little better, thinking about the trouble Lorelai had to go through. He tried not to but then again, Luke honestly could have tried harder. She had begged and pleaded him to do this and the whole thing sort of backfired on her. It got worse when the other moms confronted them, looking like they wanted to rumble or something. Instead, they voiced how upset they were about what Lorelai had told their children. Eventually, she had to defend herself and tell the mothers off, which Luke had to agree with. Seeing how she was able to handle herself alone, Luke left the women alone, having to get back to the diner. Besides, he had to find out if Jess really did have a girl in the closet or not, realizing, Shelby having to use headphones made better sense.
Making sure the customers were satisfied first, Luke headed upstairs.
Jess was looking out the kitchen window when he walked through the door, asking about what was going on down there with Lorelai and the other mothers.
Luke removed his jacket, tossing it over onto the foot of Shelby's bunk, for now. "So, we did that thing at the school, today," he said, changing the subject, but Jess had started reading, not paying much attention to his uncle. "Yeah, it went pretty well." He was basically talking to himself, especially when Shelby was focused on her game, now playing a Mario game called Mario 64, working her way through the second world, ground-pounding on thin, rectangular bad guys made out of cement. On their backs, it looked like they were held together by an oversized band-aid. But that wasn't what was important at the moment as Luke began looking around their side of the apartment, making sure to check the closet, explaining how the speech went as if anybody was listening.
Jess finally looked up again when Luke checked the closet. "Checking for monsters?" he questioned.
"Oh, no," Luke told him, awkwardly.
"Then, what?" He leaned back in his chair where Jess was sitting at the kitchen table, now reading one of his own books.
"I just didn't want to accidently bump into someone in there," Luke pointed back over his shoulder.
"What are you talking about?"
"Jess, did you have a girl stashed away in there before?" he asked.
Jess turned back to his book as he asked, "Before what?"
"Lorelai said you were hiding someone here earlier. She said a girl. Were you?"
Without looking up from his book, Jess confessed.
"Jess, you don't shove a girl into a closet," Luke told him.
He looked up at nothing to correct him. "I did not shove her in a closet. She got in, voluntarily."
Luke scoffed. "Oh, sure," he replied, not buying it.
"Look, Shane freaked when she heard you guys coming. Next thing I know, she's in there," Jess pointed at the closet. Personally, Scout's the only one I cared about seeing us. But, hey," he forced a chuckle, "women, right? Can't live with 'em. You can't keep 'em from jumping in the closet." At that, Jess went back to his book.
Luke let out a sigh, realizing he and Jess should have a little talk. Not within earshot of seven-year-old ears, though. Grabbing ahold of him, he dragged Jess out into the hall, making sure to shut the door and keep his voice down. "Look, I know you're at an age where the whole girl thing is," he paused in his words, "you know, on your mind a lot, and it's probably not helping you to think straight with all the hormones and all the other things that are raging around in there." Luke circled his hand around in emphasis.
Jess just stared back at him, in disbelief.
"My point is," he continued. "You gotta think about things, a little better, you know? The way you act. If you care about a girl like you do with this Shane…"
"I don't care about her," Jess admitted with a slight scoff.
"What?" This time, Luke was in disbelief.
"I don't even know her last name."
Looking out the corner of his eye, he said, "you're kidding."
"She mentioned it once. Didn't stick."
"Well, if you don't care about her, what are you doing with her?"
"Just hanging with her," he replied. "No biggie." Jess headed back inside the room, heading over to his and Shelby's dresser they had to share.
"Well, you gotta be doing something more than just hanging with her." Luke followed the young man. "You have to at least be doing something with her to make her jump in a closet when people come into a room, that you don't want Shelby to see. Not to mention, to risk her hearing in the process."
"Scout's hearing is fine. I was listening to music that loud since I was her age. So, relax, will ya? All is good."
"That's not the point, Jess. You can't treat a girl like this! Like dirt."
"If it's any consolation, she treats me like dirt, too. It's a pretty symbiotic relationship." Jess turned back to his dresser.
"And that's fine with you?" he questioned.
Barely glancing over his shoulder, Jess said, "Yes, it is."
"To just go along in a relationship, treat somebody bad, and they treat you bad, back."
Jess had been putting his shoes on, grabbing his wallet from on top of the dresser. Luke couldn't help notice he was using the wallet Shelby had given him for Christmas, last year. When he had everything, he walked back to the table to grab his watch and wristband as he answered, "That's right."
Luke continued to follow him. "Oh, that makes you happy?"
"I'd do backflips, but I am way too cool for that." Jess fastened his watch to his wrist.
"That makes absolutely no sense."
"Doesn't have to make sense to you," he muttered out loud.
"There are plenty other girls out there in the world, Jess." Luke held a hand out in the air which Jess pointed out about him needing to get back to the diner. "I mean, you could at least go out there and find one that you actually cares about."
He scoffed at that. "Oh, like it's that easy."
"Yeah, it's that easy if you try," he shrugged.
Jess suddenly turned on him, getting close to him. "Hey, the girls I like don't give a damn about me, and unlike some other people I know, I'm not gonna sit around hoping that they change their mind and suddenly notice me."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You fix any neighbor's porches lately? Or you go on a picnic, or you get roped into giving a ridiculous speech at a high school?"
Luke tried to stand firm, holding his hands on his sides. "Shut up," he told him.
"At least I got a little self esteem," Jess said, adding salt to the wounds.
"Shut up."
"I'm not playing golden retriever hoping someday, she'll turn around and fall in my arms. If she doesn't want to be with me, then fine!"
"You have no idea what you're talking about," Luke stated, stubbornly.
"Whatever," he shrugged. "Even a seven-year-old gets it." With that, Jess turned to leave, stating Shane was waiting for him.
Luke was caught off guard by that last response, staring after his nephew, speechless. Seven-year-old? That was oddly specific for an example.
When Jess opened the door, he turned around long enough to add, "She's slow, but she's not dumb." That said, Jess left, shutting the door behind him.
Luke stared at the floor, turning his neck in sheer frustration as he held his hands on his sides. At that point, Mario shouted out from the TV, "So long, dear Bowser!" getting his attention. Looking over at Shelby, who was looking straight at the TV, playing her game.
Does Shelby know more than he thought?
Author's Note: Sorry for the long chapter. Didn't think it would turn out this long. If you're interested and haven't seen, I posted a late night story about Jess. Not gonna do anything with it besides a one-shot. Sometimes random ideas pop into my head that I need to dump out and get rid of so that's where it came from. Other wise, I'm gonna have the next chapter of "Healing Love" up next whenever I finish it.
